Mary Robinson
Main Page: Mary Robinson (Conservative - Cheadle)
Andrea Leadsom
I congratulate my hon. Friend again on all the work she has done on that. I know it is an incredibly important constituency issue for her. I met her and a number of colleagues only recently to talk about the possibility of coal-fired power stations due to close becoming new combined cycle gas turbines. I welcome and encourage her efforts to support such an outcome. I have already told her that I will happily write to the Department for Communities and Local Government to ask what more, if anything, can be done to make it easier for planning permission to be granted for a new CCGT on the site of an old coal-fired power plant, and I will do that. She will be aware that DCLG is separately holding a consultation for those who are interested in making that transition, so that they can better understand the processes they would need to go through.
Mary Robinson (Cheadle) (Con)
11. What steps she has taken to ensure that the renewable heat incentive is cost effective.
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (Amber Rudd)
The renewable heat incentive is the world’s first long-term financial support programme for renewable heat, and is central to our efforts to deliver renewable energy to consumers and businesses across the UK. In March this year, my Department launched a consultation on measures for the RHI. As is the case for everything my Department is doing, a central aim of this reform is to ensure that the scheme offers value for money and allows us to make the transition to cleaner heating technologies in a manner that is affordable for the UK.
Mary Robinson
I fully recognise the importance of supporting the biomass industry, but what assurances can the Minister give me and small businesses, medium-sized biomass firms and their local suppliers in my constituency?
Amber Rudd
I can assure my hon. Friend that the Government are providing support for small and medium-sized biomass companies through a range of incentives, including the renewables obligation, the feed-in tariff and the renewable heat incentive. We expect biomass to play an important role in industrial processes and district heating, where there are fewer alternatives for low-carbon technologies, and we want to ensure that we bring forward deployment in these areas.